Snowfall Secrets: Whispers Beneath the Frozen Forest's Veil

The first snow of winter arrived in a hushed silence, blanketing the forest in pristine white. For sixteen-year-old Elise, the quiet was a welcome reprieve from the noise of the village, where every whispered word about her seemed louder than the howling winter winds. "The odd one," they called her. "The girl with her head in the clouds."

Elise didn't mind. She found solace in the woods, a place where she could be herself, where the world felt vast and full of possibility. That morning, with her woolen scarf wrapped tightly around her neck and a satchel slung over her shoulder, she set off into the forest, seeking the kind of adventure she’d only read so winter is best lurch